Last year’s winner for “Most Minimalist,” a Hunger Games pie by Carrie Wolfson. Photo courtesy of Eating in Madison A to Z

The 2014 Edible Book Festival takes place 11:00 am – 5:30 pm on Thursday, April 10, 2014 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Library and promises to combine literary and culinary talents from within the Madison community. AClockwork Orange made out of oranges? A catcher’s mitt made of bread, representing A Catcher in the Rye? A vegan Very Hungry Caterpillar? These could be just a few of the entries at this annual event. An edible book is an object made of edible materials, with the subject pertaining to books in shape or content. In the past, participating food artists, families, and groups have worked with cereal, herbs, fondant, candy bars, animal crackers, pretzels, Jell-O, licorice, and even Peeps!

The event is free and open to the public in a new location this year, Memorial Library Room 116. Members of the community are encouraged to attend, ogle the edible art, and vote throughout the day (up until 4:30 pm) for their favorite entries. A reception from 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm will include a “real” cake, so that attendees won’t be tempted to taste the entries! All entries will automatically be entered into the festival’s friendly competition for “best in category” and prizes will be awarded by the official judges:

Co-authors of the blog Eating in Madison A to Z, the husband and wife team of JonMichael Rasmus and Nichole Fromm (who is also a librarian)

Lesley Wolf, festival participant since 2010 and four time award winner

“A Bus Called Heaven,” Best Entry Based on a Children’s/Teen’s Book- MERIT Library

The deadline for entering the event is April 7, 2014. You don’t have to be a food artist to enter! For more information, online entry form, and photos from past festivals, see the website.

The Edible Book Festival is scheduled in celebration of National Library Week (April 13-19), and is sponsored by Memorial Library. The roots of our event come from The International Edible Book Festival, the creation of Judith A. Hoffberg and Béatrice Coron. This first festival was held in 2000, and the Books 2 Eat website was created concurrently, so people around the world could enjoy the wide variety of food artists’ creations.

Join us for this community engaging event and support the promotion of creativity and reading through libraries.